Thread: Hicks - Hunter comparison

After Hicks' 4-5 day with 3 bombs and 6 RBI...its hard not to get excited about his immense potential to become a MLB star. I understand this is "just Spring Training," but you don't just lace up the cleats and have that kind of day without serious talent. (no matter what type of pitching you're facing)

Would anyone like to comment on the comparison between Aaron Hicks and Torii Hunter?
This has been described to be "way off base" for some, but I see it as a reasonable comparison. Your thoughts?

Originally Posted by mnfanforlife

After Hicks' 4-5 day with 3 bombs and 6 RBI...its hard not to get excited about his immense potential to become a MLB star. I understand this is "just Spring Training," but you don't just lace up the cleats and have that kind of day without serious talent. (no matter what type of pitching you're facing)

Would anyone like to comment on the comparison between Aaron Hicks and Torii Hunter?
This has been described to be "way off base" for some, but I see it as a reasonable comparison. Your thoughts?

I'd say he's more comparable to Babe Ruth at this point.

Hicks is definately opening some eyes! He probably won't be hitting lots more HRs this Spring--but he will see a lot more breaking balls in the dirt, or way off of the plate. Rickey Henderson used his power to truly fatten his OBP with BBs--pitchers just didn't want to "lay it over the middle" (PtoC) for awhile after he hit a dinger. Patience and a keen eye (as well as all that speed, and base larceny) made him the Runs Scored leader. No, I don't think that Hicks will score 2,000+ runs, but I do see him as a mainstay in the OF--in April!

He did whaaaaattttt? I don't care if he is facing High school pitching.....3 bombs in a game is amazing! Considering Joe Benson had a golden sombrero I'm guessing he is out of the CF contest?

Nobody knows what Hicks will become, so I am trying to compare them as prospects:

Like Hunter, Hicks was also a first round pick by the Twins (14th overall vs 20th overall) from High School and, like Hunter was has been a 5-tool prospect. Hunter cracked the BA top prospect list once (#79 overall in 97,) Hicks did it 4 times with #19 being the highest. Hicks has more speed than Hunter and about similar power (if you exclude Hunter's numbers in SLC in the PCL league, after he was send down by TK, which were unbelievable.) Hunter made it to the bigs at age 23 (for good, had a cup of coffee before) and Hicks might make it too. Unlike Hunter, Hicks is a switch hitter (and he finally is flourishing at switch hitting after all the grief he got). Hicks draws walks at about twice the pace that Hunter did. Finally, Hicks has much better numbers, even if you include Hunter's crazy SLC numbers: .271/.379/.421 vs .270/.334/.417. And Hicks is actually a really nice and quiet guy in real life. Hunter, oh well...

So, yeah... Hunter is definitely a potential, but Hicks is a better prospect than Hunter was and his ceiling is higher than Hunter. We shall see what happens.

Off the top of my head, they don't seem real comparable. Hunter wasn't a switch-hitter & was a football guy. Hicks is MUCH less of a free-swinger and a golf guy.

What in their minor league careers seems similar ?

Originally Posted by Mchans24

He did whaaaaattttt? I don't care if he is facing High school pitching.....3 bombs in a game is amazing!

one of them off Cliff Lee, the other off a AAA prospect (pretty decent actually) and the other off a guy who is an old minor leaguer. The awesome thing is that he hit them from both sides of the plate... And that had been a major criticism about him

So what do you think is the competition over?

the season starts 3 weeks from Monday. Does Masty have enough time to get healthy and still play his way into a starting job?

Remember that one year Craig Monroe lit it up in ST?

If people have seen the video, all three were hit right handed. The first and the third were hit to the opposite field, and were definitely wind-aided. Normal conditions, they're fly bals to right field. The one to left field, was a shot!

Thrylos compared the two as prospects very well. Hicks is the better of the two prospects. Neither hit for average, but Hicks walks much more. Hicks can switch hit. Speed, in my opinion, was the same and both have very strong arms. Power pretty similar. It's actually a pretty good comparison. We'l see how it turns out.

Hicks reminds me more of Mike Cameron. Cameron has much more patience at the plate then Hunter.

He's could be the next Luke Hughes at this rate.

Originally Posted by thrylos98

The awesome thing is that he hit them from both sides of the plate...

Hate to quibble, but they were all from the right side. His broken bat 2 run single came from the left side.

He did pull one HR and go the opposite way with the other two bombs. So he did spray the ball different bleacher
sections.

Denard Span's take on who should start for the Twins.
Denard Span ‏@thisisdspan
Unreal game by @AaronHicks31 today! Do the right thing @twins.#lethimplay

So spring training doesn't mean anything?

I don't expect Hicks to have another day like this in spring training, but this would appear to make it harder to send him down to AAA. However, I did see Hicks completely blow a couple fielding plays. He missed a cutoff man, and he overran a one-hop fly ball.

All in all a pretty good day for Aaron Hicks.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

Off the top of my head, they don't seem real comparable. Hunter wasn't a switch-hitter & was a football guy. Hicks is MUCH less of a free-swinger and a golf guy.

What in their minor league careers seems similar ?

Both have a very urban playing style.

It's always nice to see a prospect look sharp in spring training, especially one
who everyone hopes to see with the big club sometime this season.

That being said, Hicks' homers say much more about what a ridiculously ineffective gauge
of a player's ability spring training is than they say about Hicks. It's great for his confidence,
but I'm just looking for him to make contact and get on base. If he adds power to the tool box,
bonus.

Regarding future potential, Hicks will go as far as his left-handed swing will take him.
Everything else is there, from all accounts. And I'll throw Carlos Beltran into the mix
for comps. Toolsie switch hitter, much more effective batting right-handed. They're grain
of salt at best, but here are the Cube's grades for their offense:

Beltran: Speed 77 Contact 54 Patience 71 Batting Average 62 Power 70
Hicks : Speed 78 Contact 47 Patience 94 Batting Average 60 Power 68

Beltran is a perennial All Star, so of course he represents the best case outlier for Hicks.
How about 'Poor man's Carlos Beltran' as a realistic goal, with Hicks partially compensating
for lower average and much less power (the cube vastly under-rates Beltran) with more walks
and maybe a bit better defense.

I'd be very happy with that, and I'll bet the Twins would be too.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

So spring training doesn't mean anything?

No. Just next to nothing. It's great that Hicks is off to a fast start, but it has
little to do with predicting his path going forward compared to his minor league
record and accumulated scouting.

After seeing both Mastro and Hicks so far, I think the best thing for the Twins to do would be to have Hicks start in CF and keep Mastro on as the 4th outfielder. It would give the Twins a good defensive replacement in the late innings to Willingham/Parmelee.